Ashutosh Verma, Founder, Exalta India highlights the importance of oxygen concentrator for various health conditions
Lungs absorb the oxygen while breathing and supply it into bloodstream. However, for those who have low oxygen saturation levels or low blood oxygen, their healthcare provider may recommend oxygen therapy, either for a short-term or long-term treatment.
Extreme conditions can usually be managed with a short-term oxygen therapy course. These conditions usually have shown extreme symptoms over a short duration compared to a chronic condition that becomes unmanageable. Chronic conditions need oxygen supplements for the long term.
Now, thanks to advanced technology in the medical landscape, oxygen concentrators can be used at home too and much advanced versions in hospitals too for oxygen therapy. The evolution of technology saw oxygen concentrators become more compact and quiet while ensuring the performance levels stay high.
Acute conditions show extreme symptoms of low oxygen levels over a short duration of time and can often be treated with a short term course of oxygen therapy.
Some of these are:
Asthma:
When you suffer from asthma, your airway becomes thick with inflammation and produces a lot of mucus, making it difficult for you to breathe. While many medicines are available to control asthma and its symptoms, an oxygen concentrator can provide immediate relief to someone suffering from an asthmatic attack. The oxygen concentrator pumps the blood with high levels of oxygen and makes up for the lack of oxygen your body has access to while you suffer from an asthma attack.
Hospitals and healthcare providers are now recommending short-term oxygen therapy to patients over the medicated route.
Pneumonia:
Pneumonia is an infection that leads to inflammation in your lungs’ air sacs, most cases end up with their lungs filled up with fluid. Most of the pneumonia patients who have turned to oxygen therapy as a cure have seen positive results and can bring their symptoms under control faster than those who have tried other resources. Since oxygen therapy has helped provide many patients with faster relief, hospitals are now recommending a treatment plan that incorporates the use of oxygen concentrators while treating those suffering from pneumonia.
Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS):
RDS is a breathing disorder that affects newborns, in particular those who are born prematurely. Newborns who suffer from RDS cannot create enough surfactant, which causes their lungs to collapse, making it difficult to breathe. Pumping oxygen into the baby’s bloodstreams and lungs using an oxygen concentrator helps prevent further complications and is thus recommended by more and more healthcare providers.
Chronic diseases develop over years before they are identified or show symptoms. These usually are not curable, but the symptoms can be managed with long term treatment plans.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD):
Affecting more than 16 million people across the globe, this disease can be managed with oxygen therapy using advanced versions of oxygen concentrators. Those who suffer from COPD develop damaged lungs that cannot absorb adequate oxygen. As a result, an oxygen concentrator is needed to ensure the bloodstream gets the required levels of oxygen for the body to function. A long term oxygen therapy plan is often recommended by hospitals and doctors for those who suffer from COPD since it provides relief faster and is more effective than a purely medicated course of treatment.
Sleep Apnea:
Sleep Apnea is a sleeping disorder that causes your breathing to stop and start sporadically while you sleep. With many different causes and treatment routes, oxygen therapy has proven to provide relief to those who suffer from sleep apnea. Water based portable oxygen concentrators have even allowed those who suffer from sleep apnea to travel while ensuring they have easy access to their oxygen machines.
In the past patients who needed assistance with their oxygen intake relied on oxygen tanks, however with oxygen concentrators the need to refill big bulky, difficult to manage tanks are fast becoming obsolete in hospitals and healthcare centre’s.